RENEGADE

Tribute to a Galaxy far far away

Sound Designing a Galaxy Far, Far Away

I took on the role of sound designer, Foley artist, and re-recording mixer for Renegade, a Star Wars fan film directed by Sandro Schreiber. Creating the audio for a universe with such an iconic sonic identity was both an incredible challenge and a massive playground. My goal was to build the entire soundscape from the ground up, blending classic Foley with experimental sound design to make the world feel alive and tactile.

Building a Tactile World

Without the luxury of a massive Hollywood prop room, I recorded almost all the physical sound effects myself in my little studio. I captured everything from the crunch of gravel and the rustle of leaves and grass to footsteps and hands slapping against surfaces to give the physical actions on screen a sense of weight.

Experimental Sound Design & Spaceships

For the sci-fi elements, I sourced and layered unexpected sounds to build something new. I wanted to create tactile sounds that seem familiar and at the same time new.

• The Starship Engine: To create a heavy, mechanical roar for the spacecraft, I layered the historic rumble of a WWII Spitfire engine with the piercing scream of a modern jet engine.
• Electrical Motors: For the whirring of servos, I held an electric drill up to the pickups of my Ibanez guitar, capturing the raw electromagnetic frequencies. This made the sound different enough to not instantly be recognizable. And I was able to color that sound differently by switching pickups on the guitar. I used this for instance to create the sound when the hatch of the space ship opens. See if you can hear it in the film.

The Voice of Evil

I carefully designed the voice of the main antagonist to sound synthetic yet deeply human. The processing subtly shifts over the course of the film, changing according to the character’s moods and shifting intentions. I actually break down the exact technical process behind this vocal chain in a short making-of video below.

Swing it like Ben Burtt

For the film’s climax, I wanted to honor the original methodology used by Ben Burtt rather than just relying on stock sound effects.

 

While I used a prefabricated base hum, the swinging sounds were performed live. I played a loop of the lightsaber hum through a studio speaker and physically waved a directional shotgun microphone back and forth in front of it, matching the exact speed and rhythm of the choreography on screen. Because the climax features a fight with three distinct sabers, I performed and recorded this entire process separately for each individual weapon to give them their own unique space and movement in the mix.

The Final Mix

Once all the pieces were built, the final step was the mix. I carefully balanced the dialogue, the custom Foley, the intense sound design elements, and the sweeping orchestral music to ensure that the action felt cinematic, clear, and emotionally impactful from start to finish.